Tom Richardson first visited the Jefferson County Service Center in 2000 to pick up blankets for a family who had recently lost their home to a fire. While talking to Service Center supervisor, Omar Ruiz, Tom decided to make a bigger commitment to fire victims in his community. He signed up to be a Disaster Action Team (DAT) volunteer and within the week, Tom, his wife Cheryl, their two sons, Keith and James and their daughter in-laws, Shanna and Katie were all registered volunteers.

"Omar and his charming ways convinced the whole family to volunteer and we're still going strong after six years," Tom joked.

In addition to DAT, Tom became a Disaster Services Human Resources (DSHR) volunteer in 2003. That year Tom, Cheryl and the extended family volunteered to work in a Red Cross food kitchen established to help displaced families following a tornado that touched down in Desoto, MO.

"For seven days, Tom and his family helped feed dozens of people," said Omar. "They prepared meals, served food, and comforted everyone around them. They definitely gave a lot of people hope after a devastating storm."

Following Hurricane Katrina, Tom was deployed to Jackson, Mississippi, for 21 days to assist with Logistics. His assignment entailed procuring supplies and materials required for the relief operation, managing the storage and distribution of supplies, establishing and controlling the transportation system including assigning, acquiring, and tracking of national and rental vehicles.

In Jefferson County, Tom, a retired Chrysler employee, has logged nearly 400 volunteer hours in the last 12 months. According to Omar, "Tom is consistently a strong leader. He is always willing to help out at the Service Center and he is skilled in several different Red Cross programs. He leads Community Disaster Education presentations, he staffs health and safety fairs, he is a member of the DSHR system and he is an excellent DAT leader."

When not volunteering at the Red Cross and other charitable organizations in Jefferson County, you can find Tom out on the golf course or playing with his two young grandchildren, Rebecca and Jonathan.

"My grandkids are two of our youngest Red Cross volunteers," he says.

Tom's dedication to his family, his community and the Red Cross is both honorable and inspiring. Perhaps Tom sums it up best, "Volunteering is very rewarding. I like knowing that I've done some good and given back to my community as best I can." 

To learn about Red Cross volunteer opportunities, click here.

To read more stories about Red Cross volunteers and donors, click here.